FEATURED SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED FOR MAIN STREET ND SUMMIT

2018 Main Street Initiative Summit slated for Feb. 12-13 in Bismarck

BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum today announced the featured speakers for the 2018 Main Street ND Summit which will be held Feb. 12-13, 2018 at the Bismarck Event Center.

The Main Street ND Summit will bring together local and national community development experts and advocates to share best practices and engage community leaders, entrepreneurs, students and interested citizens in envisioning North Dakota’s future.

“North Dakota has roughly 13,000 job openings, and we are competing with every other state for 21st century talent,” Burgum said. “The way we will win that competition is by building smart, vibrant, healthy communities where people want to live, raise families or retire.”

The Main Street ND Summit is open to the public and will provide information on the community planning principles behind the three pillars of Burgum’s Main Street Initiative: a skilled workforce; smart, efficient infrastructure; and healthy, vibrant communities to help North Dakota compete in a 21st century economy in which rapid technological advancement is changing every job, industry and organization. Cost for the event is set at $100 and interested persons can register at www.MainStreetND.com.

The two-day conference will feature national thought leaders including:

Charles Marohnis the president and founder of StrongTowns.org and lead author of Thoughts on Strong Towns. He’ll be providing thought leadership on incremental development and showcase how so many American cities found themselves in decline after decades of “growth.” He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of communities across North America and in 2017 was named one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time by Planetizen.

Robert Gibbs is considered one of the foremost urban retail planners in America and will bring his insights into essential planning and design management concepts to the Summit. Profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Urban Land, Gibbs has, writes The Atlantic Monthly, “a commercial sensibility unlike anything possessed by the urban planners who usually design downtown-renewal efforts.” Gibbs is a professional urban planner and author who has contributed to over 300 master plans across the U.S.

Roger Brooks is one of the one of the most recognized and frequently quoted experts in destination management. He will bring his innovative thoughts on creating differentiated communities to attract a 21st century workforce to North Dakota. He has assisted more than 1,500 communities and travel industry organizations around the world with their branding, product development, and marketing efforts and has appeared on every major television network and in dozens of other media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

The Main Street ND Summit is hosted by Gov. Burgum and the North Dakota Department of Commerce. For additional information on sponsorship opportunities, agenda topics or to reserve your space for the Summit visit: www.MainStreetND.com.